Location, location, location. It’s important in real estate, in a script’s budget and also in sparking creativity for a writer’s mind. But for me, location isn’t the only thing – it’s the combination of location, people, and inspiration that puts words on the page. Location Finding the best location to write is just as important [...]
There’s a debate raging now about whether or not the actors who play the superheroes in hit franchises are worth as much as the brand. Would we accept Chris Pine as Tony Stark or is Robert Downey, Jr. the only actor to pull off Iron Man? Mark Ruffalo was great as Bruce Banner in The [...]
In my night job, I showed Bonnie and Clyde and In the Heat of the Night, both 1967 Oscar nominees for script and picture. I’m an Adjunct Associate Professor of Film at the New York Institute of Technology. I was teaching my graduate seminar. The scripts from both films blew away my students. That year, [...]
There’s no question, writing is rewriting. Quitting too early is the death of a script’s potential sale. Here are some tools I use to help me get my scripts to a polish as close to perfect as my imperfect self can accomplish: 1. Rewrite by Paul Chitlik If you’re writing a spec, you don’t want [...]
From years of working with aspiring screenwriters and helping them get their scripts produced, one glaring weakness has become clear to me – most beginning writers don’t pay enough attention to their narrative, the description of action and setting. This is usually the last thing a professional screenwriter learns on his way to commercial success. [...]
Happy Monday! The start of a week can be much like the start of a script. I can play on the rewrite playground forever, but starting a project is always the most difficult part for me. Over the years, I’ve asked my writer friends for advice on tools to help me not only get past my [...]
If you’ve ever read one of the popular books on screenwriting, there’s a good chance you’re well on your way to planning your script. Depending on which book you’ve read, you’ve probably got a logline, an outline, pages and pages of character bios, half a trillion note cards thumb-tacked to your walls, a dozen journals [...]
I have an idea… I hear this all the time. It could be an idea for a television series or a film. And it may be a wonderful idea with a fascinating logline. There’s one problem with an idea, however. It needs to be fleshed out. As Shakespeare might put it: Ay, there’s the rub. [...]
Congratulations to all of the writers who went to Screenwriters World Conference East last weekend in New York City. It was an honor and a pleasure to meet our community of writers and learn alongside you. Since my return, my inbox has been popping with post-pitchfest questions, starting with the Pitch Slam experience. I wasn’t [...]
